The Metaverse: A Convergence of Physical and Virtual Space
The metaverse is a concept that refers to the convergence of physical and virtual space, enabled by immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. This 3D virtual world is envisioned as a persistent, collective, and shared space where users can interact with each other and digital objects in a highly immersive and interactive way.
The idea of a parallel digital universe where humans can experience life in new and innovative ways is not new, but recent technological advances have made it more tangible. The widespread adoption of mobile phones, high-speed internet, and popular games like Pokémon Go have all contributed to the growing interest in the metaverse.
The metaverse is often described as the next iteration of the internet, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way we live, work, and interact with each other. It's a space where users can create their own avatars, explore virtual environments, and engage in a wide range of activities, from socializing and entertainment to education and commerce.
As the metaverse continues to evolve, it's likely to have a profound impact on various aspects of our lives, from the way we communicate and interact with each other to the way we experience and perceive reality.
Note: The metaverse is a complex and multifaceted concept that is still in its early stages of development. As it continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see how it shapes the future of technology and human interaction.
Hefty industry investment in metaverse-enabling technologies, the growth of online video games, breakthroughs in AI and the acceleration of remote work and socializing driven by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred more tech innovation and increased user adoption of online life.
In November 2021, Facebook renamed itself Meta and announced a $10 billion investment in developing virtual experiences, prompting enthusiasts to anoint the metaverse as the world's new computing interface. Bill Gates jumped on the bandwagon, predicting that meetings would move from screens to the metaverse in two or three years. The hype was premature, though.
What happened to the metaverse? Is it dead?
In late 2022, about the time ChatGPT captured the world's attention, the metaverse bubble popped. Financial losses ensued, notably Meta's $13.7 billion operational loss in its Reality Labs division for 2022 as a whole. Microsoft laid off employees from its Mixed Reality Toolkit and HoloLens teams, cryptocurrency collapsed and consumers, eager to return to their pre-COVID lives, were not clamoring for extended reality devices.
The losses at Meta's Reality Labs unit increased to $16.1 billion in 2023, and Disney cut its metaverse division. Media reports proclaimed the metaverse was dead. The backlash to metaverse overmarketing included industry repudiation of the term itself. In its 2024 debut of the Apple Vision Pro headset, Apple, for example, took pains to disassociate the device from the metaverse, calling it instead an entrée to spatial computing.
Why metaverse technology is still important for businesses
Although the vision of a rapid gestation of fully-realized virtual worlds where humans work, shop and socialize from the comfort of their couches has dimmed, the metaverse isn't dead. Components of it are gaining traction as graphics and capabilities for virtual and augmented reality, bolstered by AI, rapidly improve. The development of new technology such as eye tracking, which uses sensors to monitor and record eye movements, promises to make visual experiences more engaging.
In the area known as the industrial metaverse, epitomized by the Nvidia Omniverse platform, companies are building digital twins to design and monitor physical objects. Businesses are also using virtual reality (VR) to train employees and applying augmented reality (AR) to overlay information on real-world objects, helping their employees work better.
In e-commerce, customers are clamoring for virtual products that "tie back to the physical world," according to a June 2023 McKinsey report, which stated that the market for metaverse commerce alone -- "from home and food to fitness and apparel" -- could drive "$5 trillion in value creation by 2030." A report from data-gathering company Statista pegs the metaverse market at $74.4 billion in 2024 and predicts that by 2030, at an annual growth of rate of 38%, it will reach $507.8 billion with over 2.6 billion users.